anyway to get Fido tablet data plans to receive text messages? I requested to block all incoming, outgoing, etc. SMS and I sure don't want to bother a Fido rep to unblock and reblock the plans.

Not if you asked them to block all incoming/outgoing, i.e. you can't receive texts on the Fido number.

However you can still get them on a free VoIP app like Fongo, TextNow or even Goove Voice/Hangouts using those phone numbers. (In some cases you'll need to make a call or send a text every month to keep the number alive.)

P.S. Is this related to the PayTM $10 offer where you need a non-VoIP number?

According to a bunch of posts, anyone using a phone number on a carrier in the Telus Family (Telus/Koodo/PublicMobile) is no longer receiving SMS's due to some error with the Telus network. Maybe they blocked PayTM?

Regardless, what you need to do is contact support and they will manually verify your account.